Other day, Andre came asking for three days leave coinciding with Sunday ! Andre is a skilled operator about forty years old, a work horse who rarely absents himself from work. I was surprised and asked him what was the reason for his leave. He politely told me that he wanted to get married. I was aware that he has two sons one of 18 years old and other one 15 years old as I had met both of them.
But Andre told me that the "OFFICIAL" marriage was not yet over and he was living in with his partner. To make the marriage official he had arranged for a registration in registrar's office giving a month's notice. The same would be followed by a photo session like the one above. His children would sign the witness papers. The same would be followed by a party taking a few selected friends ending late night with a drinking session.
It is not uncommon to find in Madagascar people living together for years and raising children, family etc. Later to make the same legal they go for a registered marriage. Some communities look down upon such marriages and prefer a church marriage. But it is believed that the common arrangement of living in gets cemented by the arrival of a child.
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